Transplanter.



No. 639,654. Patented Dec. I9'. |899. H. c. BENToN.

TRANSPLANTER.

(Application led Feb. 4, 1899.)

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet limi? IIIIIIII No. 639,654. Patented Dec. I9, |899. H. C.BENTON.

TRANSPLANTER..

(Application led Feb. 4, 1899.)

m0 Modem 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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NITED STATES PATENT Enron;e

HEBER O. BENTON, OF SUNBURY, NORTH CAROLINA;

TRANSPLANTER.

SPECIFIATION forming part ef Lettere Patent Ne. 639,654, dated December19, 1899.

Application filed February 4,1899. Serial No. 704,526. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HEBER C. BENTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sunbury,in the county of Gates and State of North Carolina,have invented a new and useful Transplanter,of which the following is aspeciiication.

This invention relates generally to planters, and more particularly to atransplanting apparatus intended for use in transplanting such plants astobacco, cabbage, potatoes, dac., the object of the invention being toprovide a simple and efficient means for cutting the furrow, boring thehole, setting the plant root downward, and then pressing the eartharound the root or plant so set; and with this object in view theinvention consists, essentially, of a main frame carrying a plungeroperated from the wheel-axle, a plant-hopper divided longitudinally andadapted to be open at the bottom for the purpose of dropping the plantroot downwardly, said bottom being operated also from the wheel-axle,and the covering-rollers arranged to the rear of the plant-hopper forthe purpose of covering the plants.

The invention consists also in certain details of construction andnovelties of combination, all of which will be fully describedhereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specication, Figure l is alongitudinal section on the line 1 l of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a top planview, a portion of the carrier-hopper being broken away. Fig. 3 is atransverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4t is a bottom planview, the covering-wheels being omitted. Fig. 5 is a section on the line5 5 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a rear elevation.

In carrying out my invention I employ a main frame A, which is lmountedupon an axle B, supported upon ground-wheels O, and it will be notedthat the main frame is provided with a lateral extension A' in orderthat the draft-thills A2 may be arranged at one side of the longitudinalcenter of the main frame, the purpose of such arrangement being toenable the horse to walk along the side of the furrow instead of in thefurrow.

A suitable box or receptacle D is mounted upon the forward portion ofthe main frame in which the plants to be set are carried, and

slides in a slotted guide F', depending from the main frame, saidplunger being operated by a pitman G, connected to the plunger by meansof an eye G', said pitman being connected to a crank-disk H, mountedupon a shaft journaled upon the main frame and driven by means of apinion I, which meshes with and is driven by a large gear K, mountedupon the shaft B, so that as the planter is drawn forwardly the plungerwill be caused to reciprocate in its guide, and upon each downstroke ofsaid plunger a hole will be bored in the earth in the center of thefurrow, and the depth of said hole can be regulatedy by the length ofthe stroke simply by changing the wrist-pin upon the crank-disk. Theplant. to be set is selected by the driver from those carried in thehopper D and by him dropped into the planting-hopper L, which has adivided bottom L hinged thereto, the sides of the upper portion L beingcut away, as shown at L2, in order that the hinged sections of thebottom may have room to swing upwardly when the. said sec-v tions aredivided for the purpose of dropping the plant, and in order to open thesaid sections at the proper time I employ an operating-rod M, whichisconnected to the plunger F and is bifurcated just in advance of theplant hopper, each member thereof being cranked and pivotally connectedtothe sides of the sectional bottom, the rear ends of each member Mbeing pivotally connected to the lower ends of the depending brackets N.By means of this operating-rod, bifurcated in the manner described andpivotally connected at one end to the plunger and to the dependingbrackets at the other, the sectional bottom will be caused to divide oropen upon each upstroke of the plunger,and inasmuch as the bottom isdivided along the longitudinal central line of the planter it will beclearly seen IOO how the plant dropped into the plant-hopper L will passinto the divided bottom, and as soon as the said bottom opens the plantwill be deposited root downward into the hole bored by the plunger F. Inorder to cover the roots of the plant so deposited, I employ thecovering-Wheels O, which are journaled in brackets O', arranged at anangle, as shown, the brackets beingarranged from the lower end of abracket-standard O2, which is adjustably connected to the rear portionof the main frame, and by arranging these Wheels in this manner it Willbe seen that after the plant has been set the covering-wheels will pressthe earth tightly about the roots, and thus leave them in a perfectlysecure position.

The plan ting-hopper L slides longitudinally upon the guide L3, and bythis means the distance between the-plunger and the plantinghopper canbe increased or decreased, as desired.

It will thus be seen that I provide an exceedingly simple and efficientconstruction of planter, Which performs all of its various operations inan easy manner and from a single power-shaft, and it will also be notedthat all ofthe parts so operate as to insure the deposit of the plant inthe proper place.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In a planter the combination With the main frame, of theplanting-hopper, having alongitudinally-divided bottom hinged thereto,the operating-rod for opening and closing the said divided bottom, aguideway arranged on the main frame upon Which the hopper is adapted tobe adjusted, substantially as described.

2. In a planter, the combination With the main frame, of aplanting-hopper thereon, a plunger adapted to bore a hole in the ground,a guideway arranged on said main frame on which the hopper is adapted tobe longitudinally adjusted, a divided bottom hinged to said hopper andmeans for operating the bottom of said hopper and plunger alternately,substantially as described.

3. In a planter of the kind described, the combination With the mainframe, of the planting-hopper having a longitudinally-divided bottomhinged thereto, the operatingrod for opening and closing the saiddivided bottom, and means connected with the axle for operating the saidrod, substantially as shown and described.

i. In a planter of the kind described, the combination with the mainframe, having the furrow-opener in the front thereof, a carryinghopperand a planting-hopper, of a plunger adapted to bore a hole in theground, a longitudinally-divided bottom hinged to the planting-hopper,the operating-rod connected to said divided bottom, and also to theplunger, and means for operating the said plunger and rod, substantiallyas shown and described.

5. In'a planter of the kind described, the combination with the mainframe having a furrow-opener, carrying-hopper and planting hopper, ofthe axle having a gear mounted thereon, a pinion mounted upon the shaftand adapted to mesh with the gear, a crankdisk carried also by saidshaft, a plunger adapted to reciprocate in a suitable guide and operatedby a pitman connected to the crank-disk, the longitudinally-dividedbottom hinged to the planting-hopper, the operating rod pivotallyconnected to the said hinged bottom, and also to the plunger, and thecovering-Wheels arranged at an angle to each other and to the rear ofthe plantinghopper, substantially as and for the purpose described.

HEBER C. BENTON.

Witnesses:

T. A. JORDAN, J os. M. CRoss.

